Android Will Continue to Soar, Windows Phone 7 Doomed, Says Gartner

Android's 'openness factor' is proving to be the real difference. According to Gartner, Android will become the second most popular mobile operating system by 2010 year end itself. Android and Symbian will together become the dominating force of the mobile phone market with almost 60% market share by 2014.

From less than 4% market share in 2009 to near market domination by 2014(Gartner estimate), Android is going places. But why is this even happening, why iPhone or Windows Phone 7 can't even think about achieving a feat like that. Answer is open source, obviously.

As we have discussed before, Google won't probably make any money by selling any operating system(read Chrome OS, Android et al). Through Android, Google wants its services to reach every nook and corner of the world. What better way to do it than by making it open source. And its definitely working.

Gartner Expects Android OS to Soar Even Higher

If Gartner estimates are any indication, Android OS adoption is not only going to be wider but also much faster. According to Gartner, manufacturers like Samsung will start selling low cost Android variants soon and others like Motorola, LG and Sony Ericcson will follow suit, which will eventually drive Android into mass market segments. This will serve to make Android the top OS in North America by 2010 itself.

Gartner predicts that by 2014, open source platforms will continue to dominate more than 60% market for smartphones. Single-source platforms, such as Apple's iOS and Research In Motion's OS, will increase in unit terms, but their growth rate will be below market average and not enough to sustain share increase. Windows Phone will be relegated to sixth place behind Linux based MeeGo in Gartner's worldwide OS ranking by 2014.

Though I respect Gartner's estimates, I expect MeeGo to perform better than that. MeeGo is backed by Linux foundation and it is probably going to be the only mobile phone OS out there to have a real package management system and it's supposedly going to be RPM based. Not that it is necessary, but as a Linux user I like being in control and it is always a better option (hopefully) than the Android Market. Anyways, lets wait and watch how things are going to play out for the future.